Vol. 440 No. 4
393 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Education if the proposed Regional Education Councils lead to a diminution in the work of her Department, there will be no reduction in the number of civil servants working in her Department's office in Athlone.
One of the key matters discussed at the National Education Convention last year was the question of intermediate structures — their role, authority, functions and responsibilities. The Programme for Partnership Government contains a clear commitment to the introduction of these structures.
As a result of the debate and analysis at the Convention I agreed to publish a position paper on intermediate structures. This I did on 11 March last. Copies of the paper have been circulated widely, including to the staff in my Department and to staff union representatives. Staff union representatives were also, of course, among those invited to the Convention.
In the foreword to the position paper I indicated that the publication of the paper was intended to signficantly advance the debate in regard to intermediate structures and is my contribution in this area to the furtherance of the consultative process engaged in at the Convention. I also indicated that I would be happy to arrange for the participation of officials of my Department in followup discussions. In this regard, there are ongoing discussions on this whole area with staff union representatives through the normal industrial relations process in my Department.
In view of the present stage of the process of education policy formation and development and having regard to the facts that proposals to Government and a White Paper are still some time away it would not be appropriate to engage in making statements on specific matters related to intermediate structures.
